slitting or rolling of iron, or any plating-forge to work with a tilthammer, or any furnace for making steel, shall be erected or continued in the said island of Great Britain and the Lord Lieutenant of every county in the said island is hereby commanded, on information of any such erection within his county, to order, and by force to cause the same to be abated and destroyed; as he shall answer the neglect thereof to us at his peril. But we are nevertheless graciously pleased to permit the inhabitants of the said island to transport their iron into Prussia, there to be manufactured, and to them returned; they paying our Prussian subjects for the workmanship, with all the costs of commission, freight, and risk, coming and returning; any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. We do not, however, think fit to extend this our indulgence to the article of wool; but meaning to encourage not only the manufacturing of woollen cloth, but also the raising of wool, in our ancient dominions ; and to prevent both, as much as may be, in our said island, we do hereby absolutely forbid the transportation of wool thence even to the mother-country, Prussia; and that those islanders may be farther and more effectually restrained in making any advantage of their own wool, in the way of manufacture, we cominand that none shall be carried out of one county into another; nor shall any worsted, bay, or woollen yarn, cloth, says, bays, kerseys, serges, frizes, druggets, clothserges, shalloons, or any other drapery stuffs, or woollen manufactures whatsoever, made up or mixed with wool in any of the said counties, be carried into any other county, or be water-borne even across the smallest river or creek; on penalty of forfeiture of the same, together with the boats, carriages, horses, &c. that shall be employed in removing them. Nevertheless, our loving subjects there are hereby permitted (if they think proper) to use all their wool as manure for the improvement of their lands. "And whereas the art and mystery of making hats hath arrived at great perfection in Prussia; and the making of hats by our remoter subjects ought to be as much as possible restrained: and forasmuch as the islanders before mentioned, being in possession of wool, beaver, and other furs, have presumptuously conceived they had a right to make some advantage thereof, by manufacturing the same into hats, to the prejudice of our domestic manufacture :— we do therefore hereby strictly command and ordain, that no hats or felts whatsoever, dyed or undyed, finished or unfinished, shall be laden or put into or upon any vessel, cart, carriage or horse; to be transported or conveyed out of one county in the said island into any other county, or to any other place whatsoever, by any person or persons whatsoever; on pain of forfeiting the same, with a penalty of five hundred pounds sterling for every offence. Nor shall any hatmaker, in any of the said counties, employ more than two apprentices, on penalty of five pounds sterling per month: we intending hereby that such hat-makers, being so restrained, both in the production and sale of their commodity, may find no advantage in continuing their business. But, lest the said islanders should suffer inconveniency by the want of hats, we are further graciously pleased to permit them to send their beaver furs to Prussia; and we also permit hats made thereof to be exported from Prussia to Britain; the people thus favoured to pay all costs and charges of manufacturing, interest, commission to our merchants, insurance and freight going and returning; as in the case of iron. "And lastly, being willing farther to favour our said colonies in Britain, we do hereby also ordain and command, that all the thieves, highway and street robbers, housebreakers, forgerers, murderers, s-d-tes, and villains of every denomination, who have forfeited their lives to the law in Prussia; but whom we, in our great clemency, do not think fit here to hang; shall be emptied out of our gaols into the said island of Great Britain, for the better peopling of that country. "We flatter ourselves that these our royal regulations and commands will be thought just and reasonable by our much favoured colonists in England; the said regulations being copied from their statutes of 10 and 11 Will. III. c. 10.-5 Geo. II. c. 22.23 Geo. II. c. 29.-4 Geo. I. c. 11.-and from other equitable laws made by their parliaments; or from instructions given by their princes, or from resolutions of both houses, entered into for the good government of their own colonies in Ireland and America. "And all persons in the said island are hereby cautioned not to oppose in any wise the execution of this our edict, or any part thereof, such opposition being high-treason; of which all who are suspected shall be transported in fetters from Britain to Prussia, there to be tried and executed according to the Prussian law. Such is Our pleasure. Given at Potsdam, this twentyfifth day of the month of August, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in the thirty-third year of our reign. By the King, in his council, Character of the late Robert Fulton, Esq. from Colden's Life of that celebrated Engineer, read before the Literary and Historical Society of New York. We cannot think that it will be imputed to an undue partiality for our regretted associate, if we say that there cannot be found on the records of departed worth, the name of a person to whose individual exertions mankind are more indebted than they are to the late Robert Fulton. The combined efforts of philosophers and statesmen have improved the condition of man; but no individual has conferred more important benefits on his species than he whose memory now engages our atten though others may have been conducted in the paths of science by superior learning, and may have had a more dazzling career, the labours of no individual have been more honourable, meritorious, or practically useful. The establishment of steam navigation will form an important epoch in the history of our species. -The name of the man who accomplished it will live to the remotest ages, if he be not robbed of the fame which is due to the employment of a superior genius, with surprising courage, industry, perseverance, and success. Robert Fulton was born in the town of Little Britain, in the county of Lancaster, and state of Pennsylvania, in the year 1765; he was of a respectable though not opulent family. His father, Robert Fulton, was a native of Kilkenny, in Ireland. His mother was also of a respectable Irish family, by the name of Smith, established in Pennsylvania. In his infancy he was put to school in Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, where he acquired the rudiments of a common English education. as to derive emolument from painting portraits and landscapes, in Philadelphia, where he remained till he was about twenty-one. In this time he had made the acquaintance of our celebrated countryman Doctor Franklin, by whom he was much noticed. Mr. Fulton throughout his course as a mechanist and civil engineer, derived great advantage from his talent for drawing and painting. He was an elegant and accurate draftsman. It is gratifying to find, that Mr. Fulton ever felt as an American. His long residence abroad did not enfeeble his attachment to his country. Thoughts of her prosperity and welfare were connected with all his projects; and those that he thought might be of advantage to her, he communicated with a promptness and disinterestedness which marked his desire to serve her. Ardour and perseverance were characters of Mr. Fulton's mind; when he had conceived what he thought a practicable and beneficial project, he left no means untried, and spared no pains for its accomplishment. It may be well to notice here, a matter not otherwise of importance, than as it serves to mark the pliancy of Mr. Fulton's mind, and the versatility of his genius. At a time when he was taking a step which, as he thought, would be decisive to the fate of nations, which put his life at risk, and might determine his own fortune, he amused himself with making sketches from the scenery of Holland, and representations of the manners, figures, and costume of the the Hollanders; some of them are broad caricatures, which cannot but excite a smile. They are found in his port folio, and though in general they are but sketches, they show that they are from the hand of a master, guided by wit and genius. Throughout the whole course of his experiments, no opposition or contradiction, no failure or disappointment, irritated, discouraged, or discomposed him. When his machines were broken or disordered, he, with the utmost calmness and composure, pointed out their defects or the causes of his disappointment. If an experiment failed, though it had cost him great pains and labour in the preparation; and although the failure was frequently, and obviously, owing to the awkwardness or unskilfulness of those who assisted him, his temper could not be disturbed; he would not hear the scoffs of some of the numerous bystanders, which were frequently expressed in whispers intended to reach his ear. Not a fretful or angry word ever escaped him, and after a disappointment he recommenced his preparations with the same ardour, and with the same calmness, with which he at first began. Even when his physical strength must have been exhausted by his corporeal exertions, and the excessive fatigue he would sometimes undergo through a sultry day, his spirits were never for a moment depressed. On these occasions he showed himself as much a moral as a mechanical philosopher. We have all witnessed with what zeal Mr. Fulton bestowed his time, his talents, and his purse, for the promotion of the useful and the fine arts. One of the last acts of his life manifested this disposition. By his will, which was made but a few days before his death, he devised that, in certain events, his pictures, and one half of his property not otherwise disposed of, should go to an academy of fine arts, when such an academy should be established, at the place which may be the seat of the national government. Mr. Fulton was about six feet high. His person was slender, but well proportioned, and well formed.-Nature had made him a gentleman, and bestowed upon him ease and gracefulness. He had too much good sense for the least affectation; and a modest confidence in his own worth and talents, gave him an unembarrassed deportment in all companies.-His features were strong, and of a manly beauty: he had large dark eyes, and a projecting brow, expressive of intelligence and thought his temper was mild, and his disposition lively: he was fond of society, which he always enlivened by cheerful, cordial manners, and instructed or pleased by his sensible conversation:-He expressed himself with energy, fluency, and correctness, and as he owed more to his own experience and reflections, than to books, his sentiments were often interesting from their originality. In all his domestic and social relations he was zealous, kind, generous, liberal, and affectionate. He knew of no use for money but as it was subservient to charity, hospitality, and the sciences. But what what was most conspicuous in his character, was his calm constancy, his industry, and that indefatigable patience and perseverance, which always enabled him to overcome difficulties. He was decidedly a republican. The determination which he often avowed, that he never would ac cept an office, is an evidence of the disinterestedness of his politics; but his zeal for his opinions or party, did not extinguish his kindness for the merits of his opponents. Society will long remember and regret him; but he will be most lamented by those, by whom he was best known. MANNERS |